satisfaction

BEING HUMAN MEANS A SIMPLE LIFE WITH GOOD FAITH AND ACTION

It’s one of life’s ironies that we often choose to

spend time passively as a gift to ourselves,

when true satisfaction and deep happiness

come from doing the things that require more

of us.

You can’t force the flow state, but you can

enable it to happen. Once you’ve chosen a

good flow-inducing activity, the first step is to

concentrate on what you’re doing. Don’t try to

multitask—that just keeps you from fully

focusing on any of the things you’re trying to

do. Let yourself be absorbed by one task. If

distractions tempt you, acknowledge them but

direct yourself back into your work. If you

think of something else that you really want to

research or need to remember to do, make

yourself a little note and go back to what

you’re doing.

This may be difficult at first. We’re a society of

quick changes and constant interruptions. But

you can get in shape for it just like building

muscles by exercising. To start, plan to work

for 20 minutes straight, then take a 10-minute

break. Knowing a break is coming as a reward

is very helpful in the beginning, and

committing to stick with your task for 20

minutes is also crucial. Set a timer for 20

minutes or write down your start time, and

don’t stop until time is up. You may encounter

many distractions and temptations. The worst

obstacle may be that you really don’t want to

do the task or it seems scary or overwhelming.

Keep telling yourself it’s only 20 minutes, then

you’ll get a break. Keep working until then.

When the time is up, feel the satisfaction of

having stuck with it. Reward yourself with a

break, and notice how much progress you

made. Twenty minutes isn’t long, but it’s

surprising how much you can accomplish in

that time if you focus.

As you keep repeating this process, it gets

easier and easier. Especially, for me, the

hardest part of a task is starting. Once I’ve

spent one or two blocks of 20 minutes on it, I

get some traction and have a much easier

time. If you’re stuck at the beginning, another

thing that helps is using some of your first 20-

minute block to make a plan of attack and

start breaking the task down. As you reduce it

to smaller and smaller pieces, it becomes more

concrete. You start to see how you could do

each piece, and it becomes less daunting.

As you keep working in 20-minute increments,

you may find that the timer goes off right

when you’re in the middle of something and

you actually don’t want to stop. Awesome!

Keep going! Give yourself a break when you do

get tired or reach a good stopping point.

As you develop the ability to get absorbed and

work on your project for longer stretches, you

may actually find the timer counter-productive

if it startles you out of your flow state and back

into awareness of the world and time passing.

If you find that’s the case for you, instead of

using a timer, just record the start time of each

session. If you’re longing for a break, look at

the clock and direct yourself back into the task

until 20 minutes is up, but if you’re flowing

away at the task, you won’t be interrupted by

the timer.

Try to eliminate or minimize other sources of

interruption, too. Anything that forces you to

surface from the flow state is the enemy of

your gratifying work. If you’re working on

something really serious or important, it’s

worth turning off the phone, putting a note on

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your door, and definitely turning off the email

auto-notification. If it’s urgent, people will find

a way to get your attention, but otherwise,

they can wait until your break.

Gratifying work that takes you to the flow state

is a great source of true, deep happiness. The

satisfaction of accomplishing things feels good,

and the flow state is downright addictive. If

you can combine that with doing something

you love, it’s an abundant and reliable source

of happiness that’s available any time you want

it.